A joint statement by the two leaders made no public mention of Australia's opposition to whaling.

But Mr Turnbull is believed to have raised the issue in private talks with his Japanese counterpart.

The Rudd government challenged Japan's whaling in the International Court of Justice, winning a landmark ruling that found Japan in breach of international law.

A global moratorium on commercial whaling stretches back to the 1980s, but following the 2014 ruling, Japan withdrew from the court's jurisdiction on whaling and declared it would kill 333 minke whales each year.

Daniel Flitton is senior correspondent for The Age covering foreign affairs and politics. He is a former intelligence analyst for the Australian government and was at one-time a university lecturer specialising in international relations.